Feline Food Line

This morning I took a cute photo of my farm cats as they were waiting for their morning chow.  I took this picture through the kitchen window because I knew if I went out the front door they would all come running to me.   They were all lined up intently staring at the front door, waiting for any sign of movement to indicate that it was chow time! (Except for one cat that had his back turned, and one cat staring off elsewhere).   My poor farm cats are having a tough winter!  It's been very cold, and next week looks to be outrageously cold.  Tonight it will be almost 29 below zero, Monday 31 below, Tuesday 40 below!, Wednesday 37 below and Thursday 33 below zero.  It finally "warms up" to 0 on Friday.   We have a small heater in the cat's house to help them out.  They sit in front of the heater for most of the day and night.   The deep snow around their house helps, too, to keep things warm.    Without the heater I am sure I would lose some of my farm cats.   All year long they are excellent hunters helping to keep things mouse-free around here, so they are important.

Ten of my farm cats patiently staring at the house, waiting for their morning chow time! When this photo was taken the temperature was 15 below zero F. A couple other cats decided to wait inside for mealtime, and sit by their heater.

I sure hope the cats...........and us!............can survive the big cold snap coming this week!  We are going to have some dangerous temperatures out there!

Cheering Myself Up

So this morning it was minus 25 degrees F (or -31 Celsius).  Too cold to do much of anything outside.  We've had a string of cloudy, cold winter days.  And I'm feeling stressed out over my husband's heart issues lately.  We have several doctor appointments for him next week.   He is not feeling the best right now.   Whenever I feel stressed out and start to feel sorry for myself, I like to get into the kitchen and find something interesting to do.  "Kitchen therapy"  - yep!  I decided it would be a good day to make a batch of Swedish Flatbread.   I wrote up a post on this back in 2017 (see the Dec 22, 2017 article in older posts).  Making flatbread kept me busy for an afternoon.

A nice batch of 16 Swedish flatbreads.   They will keep for a long time in a tin (broken into pieces), and make a good snack with a cup of coffee, tea, or hot cider. 

After making the flatbreads, I decided to sit down with a cup of lemon zinger tea and a couple pieces of the new flatbread.  Using my fanciest cup and saucer, and my favorite tea pot, cheered me up, too!

A few sections of flatbread, some tea and a good book go a long way to cheering a person up on a cold winter day!

I bought a new book the other day - a very nice book on gardening.   It's a great reference, and I am learning plenty of new things to try this year in the gardens.  I already have my gardens planned out, seeds ordered and bought, and now I'm ready to draw up some diagrams of where I will put crops this year.

My new garden book.  By the end of February I will be starting some flower seeds inside, and in early March quite a few other seeds will be started.  

I feel better already! 

A Favorite Salad

This is a recipe I got from my mother about 8 or 9 years ago.  It's a favorite to take to pot lucks and picnics, especially in summer,  because it doesn't have anything that would spoil in the heat.  But this salad is also good in the winter when fresh lettuce isn't readily available.  It makes a good sized bowl full, and keeps well in the refrigerator for several days.  You can vary the veggies used in it, according to what you have and what is available.   You need about 4 to 6 cups of chopped veggies.

VEGETABLE PASTA SALAD

One 12-oz box of bow tie pasta 

4 to 6 cups of chopped vegetables:  choose from cucumbers, green or red peppers, zuccini or summer squash, green onion or red onion or sweet onion, radishes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, broccoli or cauliflower. 

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

Cook the 12 oz package of bow tie pasta until tender, but not overcooked, about 13 or 14 minutes.  Drain and rinse pasta in cold water, and drain again.  

Chop up the veggies into small pieces, or thinly slice.  (If using cherry tomatoes add them the next day.)  Mix the cooked pasta and veggies with 1/2 tsp of salt and some pepper in a large bowl. 

Make the following dressing: 

1/3 cup white vinegar

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup salad oil

1 T. regular yellow mustard

     Put all in a jar and shake until sugar is dissolved and dressing is well blended. 

Mix about 3/4 of the dressing with the veggie/pasta mix and cover and set in the refrigerator overnight.  Reserve the remaining dressing in the jar.   Next day, see if the salad needs a little more dressing and add some more and mix.   If you are using cherry tomatoes, cut in half and add at this time.   The recipe will probably make about 8 meal sized servings, or about 16 side dish servings.

Here is the salad I made today for a church pot luck.  I used broccoli, red peppers, green peppers, red onion and carrots.

The New Book Is Here!

Harold and I consider ourselves to be "Scrabble Aficionados".   That's fancy talk for "we really like to play Scrabble and think we're pretty good at it"!  We play Scrabble almost every night, mostly in the winter and late fall.   Of course we use the Official Scrabble Dictionary as our authority.  Since 2008 we have been using the 5th Edition dictionary, but we just found out there is a 6th Edition, so we ordered that and it came the other day in the mail. 
     We make a big deal out of playing Scrabble.  Quite often we have a "Scrabble supper", which means we set out cheese and crackers or chips and dip or veggies or some other simple supper.  Sometimes we just have popcorn and cider or water.   But we always have to have some kind of Scrabble food - helps us to think, ya know!  In the summer and spring we are too busy with outdoor chores and gardening, so Scrabble takes a back seat then.   We have learned so many new words and all the weird words, too.   Nobody likes to play Scrabble with us anymore - we have outplayed everybody.   But Harold and I can still challenge each other.   It's fair to say we each win about 50% of the time!
     So during the long winter evenings we put on some music or listen to old time radio shows, get out the snacks and get down to the business of playing Scrabble.  We are using the old game I bought in 1978.  It is on a turntable which makes it great for holding the letters in place.  Years ago my kids sat on the board - thinking they were using it for a "sit and spin" toy (remember that toy fad from the 70's?) - and put a big crack in the middle of the board.   But it still works and that's all that counts.   The crack is a reminder that kids will be kids, I guess.   In the 41 years I've had this Scrabble board, I wonder how many games were played on it?  I have sewed many cloth bags for the letters over the years, and we have gone through several official dictionaries.   Amazingly enough, we have never lost a letter tile!
     Anyone for a challenge against us?

Our new official Scrabble authority!

Lots of new words to learn!  The new Scrabble dictionary is thicker than the old one - plenty of new words.

Here's the crack in the middle of the board that my kids caused back in the 1970's, when they tried to make a "sit and spin" toy out of the board.

The game begins - it's my turn next after Harold started the game.  I don't have very good letters!  All I could make was 'hats'.

As the game progresses, things get harder!  Not many places to make good plays without setting up opportunities for the other guy!  The object is to ensure that you don't make it easy for your opponent to use the triple word feature.

Happy New Year 2019!

Happy New Year to everyone!  Can you believe it is really 2019?  For old people like me, I can remember a time when the year 2019 seemed like it was so far into the future it was unimaginable.   And yet, here it is.   As you can tell from the looks of this blog, I have changed the theme and the general appearance.   I always like to start off a new year with a fresh format.  Somehow looking at the same old same old every year just doesn't seem right.  A new year deserves a new look! I will be starting my 7th year of blogging.  The past 6 years have been very enjoyable writing about stuff here on the farm.   I never seem to run out of ideas because life is always changing.   While some posts might seem the same from year to year, they are really different.  One thing we can always count on is that change always happens!  Harold and I look forward to 2019.  The past year has been a very good year for us, and we hope for more of the same this year, too! 
     I encourage my readers to comment on the blog.  You can post comments under  "name/url" or simply "anonymous" and then sign your name or not.   I especially encourage my foreign readers to comment!  Let me know who you are!  I have blog readers from all over the world, and I am flattered that you find my blog posts interesting.
     This morning it was very cold here in northern Minnesota.  We woke up to -24 deg F, which is -31 deg C. That is cold!   We put a heater in the cat's shelter to help the kitties out, as this kind of cold is quite tough on them.   We have about 7 or 8 inches of snow on the ground.  Here is a photo of the view from my kitchen window:

As I stand at the sink in my kitchen, this is what I see every morning in the winter.  I think it is a lovely view!   Sometimes I watch herds of deer walk across the frozen lake.    In the summer, the trees are thick with leaves and underbrush, so my view of the lake is gone.  But in the fall, the beautiful colors make for pretty viewing.   Living in an area with 4 seasons, makes for constantly changing scenery.

This is the beautiful and peaceful looking view from my computer desk!  As I sit and write blog posts I often gaze out across the lake.  In the summer I watch the trumpeter swans and ducks.  In the fall there are lots of migratory birds.  In the winter I see deer, the occasional fox or coyote, and the other day I watched a mink "hop" across the lake.  I found out that mink don't really run, but sort of 'hop'.  I thought the animal was wounded until my husband and the neighborhood guys around here set me straight on the movements of mink. In this photo you can see where the deer have made a path across the edge of the lake.

 We built our house in such a way that this would be our view of the farm every day - trees, a lake, and plenty of open spaces.  Our home sits on a slight hill, so we have a wonderful view of things from a higher perspective.

     I hope that this will be a good year for everyone!  Let us enjoy every moment of the year, and walk with the Lord every day!

Making Lefsa Today - You bet'cha!

Today I am making that Scandinavian specialty called lefsa.  It is sort of like a potato tortilla, baked on a hot griddle.  Just about everyone in Minnesota eats this delicacy around Christmas time.  I am of Polish heritage and before I came to Minnesota, I never heard of lefsa.  For sure, we never ate it!  But when I first tasted lefsa I just KNEW I had to learn to make it!  It is so delicious.   It takes some practice to make it just right and to make it thin.  Oh sure, a person can eat thick lefsa, but it's a matter of housewife pride to make the thinnest, most delicate lefsa!  Over the years I have learned a lot, so I think I make a 'pretty good' lefsa, as the Norwegians up here would say.   It's a two day process to make lefsa.   On day one you boil up russet potatoes and put the cooked potatoes through a ricer.   Then you add lots of butter and cream and a little bit of salt and sugar and let this cool overnight.   The next day you add flour and mix it all up until you have a dough, but you try not to mix it too much or you will have "tough" lefsa - oh horrors!  This is the messy part.   I just figure on getting bits of potato and flour all over the floor and on my hands.
     Then the dough is rolled out very thinly on a floured cloth, transferred to the hot griddle with a traditional long stick, flipped over, and then set to rest between warm towels.  When it has set enough, you spread it with butter, sprinkle with sugar (I like brown sugar) and roll it up and eat it.  It goes SO well with a cup of hot cider or tea or coffee.   And quite filling, too!
     Here are some photos I took this afternoon of my lefsa making session:

The dough is first rolled into little patties and placed on a floured cloth.   Some ladies have a special round lefsa cloth, but I use a sturdy piece of linen, duct-taped to my pastry board. 

A special grooved rolling pin is used.  The rolling pin is covered with a stockinette cover, and a 2 foot long thin stick is used to handle the lefsa dough.

First one side is cooked until light brown spots appear on the underside.

The lefsa piece is flipped over using the long stick, and the second side is cooked.

A stack of cooked lefsa pieces.  They are folded in half and kept warm.

The cooked lefsa pieces are kept warm in several layers of towels, and I usually put a damp warm towel on top.  (Note my towel from 1971!)

A piece of lefsa cut in half and ready to eat with a mug of hot cider.   Yum!  This is Christmas in Minnesota!

I usually make about 24 to 28 pieces of lefsa.   That's enough for us during the holiday season, and some to share with neighbors.   It takes me an afternoon to do, but it is so worth it!  Merry Christmas!

Harold's Sawmill - Part 2

Last June I wrote a post about the sawmill that my husband Harold designed and built.   Since then he has tweaked it a bit and added some things to it, and it really cuts well now!  He has been busy lately sawing up logs for lumber to build a chicken house this spring.   We hope to have chickens again, and since we have 100 acres of woodland it only makes sense to use what we have for lumber!  After all, why buy lumber when you have it right in your own backyard.   Several weeks ago Harold brought in a huge red oak saw log.   It was about 30 inches in diameter and over 10 feet long.   Red oak may seem like 'overkill' for a chicken house, but this is a log that has been down for quite some time and is not the best wood for furniture or hardwood flooring.   I took some photos yesterday of Harold cutting up wood.  He sure enjoys his sawmill!  If a person was going to buy a sawmill such as this from Cook's Sawmill Co. it would be over $6,000.  Harold built this from new and used pieces for about $600.  That's a big savings!  Of course he isn't going to just use the sawmill for chicken house wood - he hopes to saw logs into usable lumber for others, too.  And someday we would like to make our own hardwood flooring. 

Harold gets things lined up before the cut.  He has already cut some pieces off of the huge 30 inch diameter log.

He begins to push the blade through the log.

A close up of the blade cutting through the log.

An even better photo of the blade cutting through the log.

A beautifully cut red oak piece about 1 inch by 24 inches.  (still has a bit of saw dust on it)

Harold adds this piece of lumber to the pile already cut.  After everything was cut for the day, he stacked the wood inside his shop.

Harold gets the log lined up to flip over to another side for cutting.

The log is still too heavy to flip easily, so he used his tractor and a chain to turn the log over.

The rest of the log is in position for cutting.  Harold will slice off the top bark piece, then saw up the rest of the log into lumber.

A lot of saw dust is generated cutting logs into lumber!!

Harold has a ways to go yet before we have enough lumber to build that chicken house.    Most of the trees he will use are poplar, ash, and oak .   Perhaps this summer I can show you a picture of that chicken house, truly "built from scratch".

Back To Indiana For A Visit

A week ago my husband and I took the Amtrak train to Indiana to visit my Mom and sister and niece.   We enjoy riding the train, as it is roomy and relaxing.  No worries about driving.  You can walk around, eat in the dining car, view the scenery in the observation car and also meet interesting people.   It's an unhurried old fashioned way of travel, and we're definitely old fashioned folks!  It was difficult to take photos on the train with all the movement so I didn't even try.   But I did take a few pictures of the lovely train depots we were at.   This time we took the train to Niles MI instead of Indiana.  Doing this made for better connections in Chicago.

Harold waiting inside the Niles MI train depot.   This is a lovely old building built in 1892 and it was decorated nicely for Christmas by the local Garden Club. 

The Niles MI depot is a large building made of beautiful stone.

The other end of the building.  This lovely stone structure has been in use since 1892.

Before we got to Niles, we had to change trains in Chicago.   Chicago's Union Station is a HUGE building and the hub of Amtrak.  It's a busy place - like an airport.   The main waiting area is called the Great Hall. 

This photo doesn't capture the size of this room or the massive height of the ceiling, but it is a beautiful place to wait for the trains.   

There are four staircases leading out to downtown Chicago from the Great Hall.  This Chicago depot was built in 1925.

One part of the Great Hall had a massive Christmas tree, decorated with railroad signs. 

Another part of the Great Hall had a display of a Christmas train. 

I am standing in front of the Christmas tree on the other side of the hall to give you an idea of how tall it was.

My sister and I with our Mom who is 96!

Mom enjoys playing cards, so we made sure to play plenty of games with her.  Doesn't my Mom look good for being 96?